Photo: motogp.com
We’re back in business in the premier class, even if the fun will only last for three days. The first official MotoGP test of the year has debuted in Malaysia at the Sepang circuit, with cold weather in the morning (by Malaysian standards) and temperatures rising as the day grew. The Sepang track was quite busy as there were no less than 30 riders who took part in the test.
No less than five factory test riders had their outings on the track, and still the overall number of pilots could have been even greater, if Pramac Racing’s Yonny Hernandez had recovered from his injury. HRC had 2 test riders on the track, Takumi Takahashi and ex-MotoGP Japanese Hiroshi Aoyama. They were joined by Aprilia’s development man and 2014 MotoGP pilot Michael Laverty, whose brother Eugene is now riding for Drive M7 Aspar, Takuya Tsuda for Suzuki and Michele Pirro for Ducati.
Jorge Lorenzo was around a quarter of a second slower than Marquez, but the improvement from the tests one year ago are noticeable, as the Mallorcan is now 0.9 seconds faster than he used to be. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso was almost a tenth of a second behind Lorenzo, a position he is growing more and more acquainted to lately. However, Dovi rode the Desmosedici GP14.3 bike and not the GP15 bike, and we told you the reasons why.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was 5th, just under half a second slower than his team mate and two seconds faster than a surprising Pol Espargaro on the satellite Yamaha. Ducati’s other factory rider Andrea Iannone finished the day seventh-fastest, and this is also a solid improvement over what we were used to one year ago or so.
Stefan Bradl is learning the ways of his new Forward Racing Yamaha, but his 8th place in Day 1 at Sepang is nonetheless a very good performance. Tech3 Yamaha’s Smith was ninth today, while Cal Crutchlow, also on a new bike rounded up to top ten for CWM LCR Honda, only 6 thousandths of a second behind Smith. Scott Redding and his Marc VDS Honda posted the 11th best time, followed by Pirro and his development Ducati.
The kick-off day at Sepang also saw some crashes but nobody was injured, so we are waiting to see how things develop tomorrow, now that the riders have sort of shaken off the winter rust. Oh, and Valentino Rossi has also showed up with a very funny winter-themed helmet design, a most uncanny presence in the Malaysian heat. Check back tomorrow for more MotoGP action.
Marquez leads day 1, but far from being authoritative
Marc Marquez finished the first test day at Sepang in the leading position, with a 0.118s gap from runner-up Valentino Rossi. Still, his riding had almost nothing from the authoritative domination we saw in the 2014 championship. In fact, the Movistar Yamaha riders had also lead in certain moments of the day.Jorge Lorenzo was around a quarter of a second slower than Marquez, but the improvement from the tests one year ago are noticeable, as the Mallorcan is now 0.9 seconds faster than he used to be. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso was almost a tenth of a second behind Lorenzo, a position he is growing more and more acquainted to lately. However, Dovi rode the Desmosedici GP14.3 bike and not the GP15 bike, and we told you the reasons why.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was 5th, just under half a second slower than his team mate and two seconds faster than a surprising Pol Espargaro on the satellite Yamaha. Ducati’s other factory rider Andrea Iannone finished the day seventh-fastest, and this is also a solid improvement over what we were used to one year ago or so.
Stefan Bradl is learning the ways of his new Forward Racing Yamaha, but his 8th place in Day 1 at Sepang is nonetheless a very good performance. Tech3 Yamaha’s Smith was ninth today, while Cal Crutchlow, also on a new bike rounded up to top ten for CWM LCR Honda, only 6 thousandths of a second behind Smith. Scott Redding and his Marc VDS Honda posted the 11th best time, followed by Pirro and his development Ducati.
Suzuki and Aprilia post modest debut times
Suzuki machinery was rather modest in the debut of the first 2015 test. Aleix Espargaro was only 14th, almost 2 seconds adrift Marquez, while Maverick Vinales, who is getting used to MotoGP bikes, ending the day in the 21st place. Aprilia was not exactly better, as the best-positioned Factory Aprilia Gresini machine was ridden by Alvaro Bautista to the 15th position, while Marco Melandri only posted the 26th lap time.The kick-off day at Sepang also saw some crashes but nobody was injured, so we are waiting to see how things develop tomorrow, now that the riders have sort of shaken off the winter rust. Oh, and Valentino Rossi has also showed up with a very funny winter-themed helmet design, a most uncanny presence in the Malaysian heat. Check back tomorrow for more MotoGP action.
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